'His handprints were on my back'- Mother living in 'absolute prison' with teenage son

An Irish mother is living a nightmare within her own home with her 15-year-old son who was born with brain damage after a stroke in the womb

The last four years in particular have been horrific for Chantelle from Cork because of her son Authur’s behaviour.

“Our home is not a home....it’s an absolute prison,” Chantelle told Kieran Cuddihy on RTE’s Liveline.

Authur, because of his disability, is physically abusive and is a constant worry for his mother who has no life trying to care for him.

She is urging for some support to help care for her son because of the stress and abuse she is dealing with.

Her other son is now living in his grandmothers because he doesn’t want to live in the house with him.

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“It's been absolutely manic. Absolutely manic,” Chantelle said on RTE Liveline.

“I'm literally being physically assaulted by my 15 year old son on the daily. I might get one day out of the week where he's actually okay and he might not need to have a kick off or he might not have a meltdown. It's an unliveable environment”.

Chantelle said on Liveline that she has tried to explore every avenue, both medically, through paediatricians, doctors, you name it and nothing's working.

Her son Authur has tried to run away and jump out windows on numerous occasions so bringing him outside or leaving him unattended cannot happen.

The mother from Cork said on Liveline that her son Arthur was born on the 17th of January 2011.

She found out prior to that, the December before that, through a scan, that there was something wrong.

“They would have booked me in for an MRI, because they couldn't kind of say it 100%, you know, without valid proof and what have you. So they booked me in for an MRI two days after that scan, which would have been the 17th of December 2010. And I had a professor, a doctor, and two other staff nurses come up and asked was I in a car crash or anything?”.

Authur has actually suffered a stroke in the womb which caused him to get a brain hemorrhage.

“ I was told he'd be blind, he'd be deaf, he wouldn't walk, he wouldn't talk. They actually gave him a week when he was born. It's an awful lot for a 17-year-old to take in”.

Auther had a life expectancy of 10 growing up, and he's 15 years of age now.

“He's a miracle. He is a walking miracle. But it's just unfortunate the way things are going.

“our home is not a home. It's a prison. My home is an absolute prison. when he's back from school, from three o'clock, me and him are in that home. Windows locked, doors locked, no matter what degree it is, until the next day, until he has school again”.

Chantelle describe on Liveline one incident where she was physically abused by her son.

“He caught me by my head, but I was down on my knees and he pulled me to the floor, and I was kind of like flat out, and he was down on my back, pounding my back with his hands, nails and guards were rang, they came to my home, again, I was ended up in the hospital the next morning”.

RTE Liveline contacted HSE South West for a statement on support for the family.

The responded with: The prevailing consensus is that the most appropriate placement for any child is in their own home with their family and consequently all effort goes into sustaining a child within the family environment before residential places are considered as the number of applicants for residential placements exceeds available capacity.

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“Decision-making on allocations is informed by the prioritization of assessed clinical needs and the complexity of the case and the support needs of applicants, et cetera, et cetera”.

RTE Liveline said that the HSE revealed that in Cork City and County, they have 19 children currently in residential placements.

“There are no vacant beds specific to children available. So there is nowhere for Arthur to go,” Kieran Cuddihy said on Liveline.

Chantelle said on Liveline that this is not good enough.

“Not only are they after failing me and my son and my family, they're failing others as well. I can't do it”.

Chantelle said that the HSE has failed her and other parents dealing with disabled family members in need.